Mariners respond in rout of Yankees

Published 5:30 am, Saturday, October 20, 2001

NEW YORK -- Just before game time, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella shooed visitors from his clubhouse, shut the door and spoke to his players for about two minutes.

He mixed a bit of humor with a pinch of anger and a dash of confidence as he reminded his players of everything they had accomplished in this magic carpet ride of a season. There were 116 regular-season victories. And 59 road victories. And one losing streak longer than three games.

Piniella reminded his players there had been laughs along the way and a feeling they were something much greater than they ever could have imagined. And just as he had 48 hours earlier, he emphatically told his players the momentum in this American League Championship Series was about to change.

In another phase of his life, Piniella might have cursed his players, bounced a batting helmet off a wall or insulted the whole lot of them. These days, he's a kinder and gentler Lou, the manager who believes in his guys and likes to tell them so.

On a gorgeous fall Saturday evening in the Bronx, with a huge crowd of 56,517 sensing its New York Yankees moving in for the kill, Piniella watched his Mariners do just as he had predicted in rolling past the defending champions 14-3 in Game 3 of the ALCS.

After two lifeless performances in Seattle, the Mariners looked like the pesky, hustling team that established the American League record for victories in a single season. They broke open a tie game with seven runs in the sixth inning and collected 15 hits, including home runs by Bret Boone, John Olerud and Jay Buhner.

They took advantage of two New York errors, made a slew of nice plays, and by the time they were done, might have started to believe some of Piniella's words.

The Mariners trail this best-of-seven series 2-1, and with Games 4 and 5 also at Yankee Stadium, they need one more victory to fulfill Piniella's promise of forcing a Game 6 in Seattle.

"You can say a lot of things, but you have still got to get it done on the field," Piniella said. "And tonight, our team went out and got it done. What we need to do is follow it up with a couple more here in New York."

The Yankees had gone ahead 2-0 in the first inning on a two-run homer by Bernie Williams, but when the lead disappeared in the sixth, it disappeared in a big way. Manager Joe Torre removed his starters in the later innings, and by the time reporters were allowed into the clubhouse, Derek Jeter, Chuck Knoblauch and others were gone.

For the last five years, the Yankees haven't had many rough spots, but when they've had one, they've recovered quickly.

"It makes no difference how you lose," Yankees reliever Mike Stanton said. "It's still a loss. We had an idea that we were not going to sweep these guys. You don't win 116 games by being OK. It was an ugly game for the Yankees. We have to accept it and move forward. We're still up 2-1 and have a lot of confidence."

Mariners lefthander Jamie Moyer allowed two runs in seven innings for the victory. He surrendered that two-run homer in the first inning but was almost perfect after that. He held the Yankees down until his teammates finally figured out Orlando Hernandez, who was in almost constant trouble and finally was knocked out in the sixth.

Hernandez allowed four earned runs in five-plus innings, and despite nursing that 2-0 lead into the fifth, he seemed shaky the entire night. The Mariners were forcing him into a high pitch count, and unlike the cocky El Duque of previous seasons, he seemed almost afraid to throw a strike.

The Mariners tied it in the fifth on Boone's two-run single. When Olerud led off the sixth with a home run, Hernandez's evening took a dramatic turn for the worse.

Stan Javier followed with a single, and when Hernandez walked Cameron, Torre went for Stanton, the lefty reliever who has a home in Magnolia.

With runners on first and second, Piniella asked Dan Wilson to bunt the runners up. Wilson laid a bunt down the third base line. Stanton rushed over, fielded the ball and tossed a throw toward third base to get the force on Javier. His throw bounced away from third baseman Scott Brosius and down the left field line, allowing Javier to score and Cameron to go to third. Wilson ended up at second.

"There's no excuse for that," Stanton said. "I rushed it. If I make a good throw, I've got him. We work on that play all spring. I just didn't make a good throw."

Stanton got David Bell on a fly to right, then intentionally walked Ichiro Suzuki to load the bases. Mark McLemore made him pay for that strategy by tripling to left to score three runs and give the Mariners a 7-2 lead.

All of a sudden, the Yankees looked beatable. Another error followed. And then home runs by Boone and Buhner (in the ninth). By the seventh-inning stretch, the disappointed New Yorkers had begun making their way for the exits. For one night, the champions blinked.

"It's a race to four wins, and they outplayed us tonight," Yankees designated hitter David Justice said. "When you get crushed like this, it's easy to come back."

Boone, who finished with three hits and five RBIs, needed this evening more than any of his teammates. After a 37-homer, 141-RBI regular season, he'd hit .143 and not had an extra-base hit or an RBI in Seattle's first seven playoff games.

Boone popped out and flew out in his first two at-bats, but in the fifth he lofted a two-run bloop single that left fielder Knoblauch had but dropped as he tumbled. The home run followed. And then another RBI single.

"There's a long way to go, but tonight was pretty crucial," Boone said. "You go down 0-3, and you're in big trouble."

The Mariners still have to win one of the next two at Yankee Stadium to force the series back to Seattle. But Saturday was a start.

"The Yankees have been the epitome of what the postseason is about," Boone said. "We know they are going to shake this off and be ready for us tomorrow. It was nice to get a lot of guys involved in the offense and feeling good about things."

Today's starting pitchers

2001 vs. this opponent: This pitcher vs. this team only. Team rec.: Team's record in games started by this pitcher. A/H: Average hits, walks per 9 innings. NR: No record against this opponent.

Notes

Getting better

Roger Clemens says his injured right hamstring continues to improve, but he still won't be 100 percent when he takes the mound tonight for Game 4 of the AL Championship Series.

Clemens suffered the injury during a four-inning appearance in Game 1 of the Division Series against Oakland. He recovered enough to go 4 1/3 innings in the fifth and deciding game against the Athletics and will be back on the mound tonight after five days off.

"My leg is feeling better," Clemens said Saturday. "Some of the swelling is going down behind my knee. I guess we are just trying to move some of the fluid around. But you're never going to feel just terrific, so your adrenaline and the excitement of being here is going to take over. I don't expect it to be a problem."

After a 20-3 regular season, Clemens has a 5.40 ERA after two starts in the playoffs. His fastball was back in the 95 mph range in his second start against the A's, but his control wasn't close to being as good as usual.

Despite the injury, Clemens said it's no excuse for not doing well.

"I expect whatever part of my game I need to call on to elevate," he said. "It's that time of the year. You cannot afford to have a tired arm. You cannot afford to be beat up. We have every-day guys that are in the same situation. Everything is on the line. You've got to be out there."

End of the line?

Orlando"El Duque"Hernandez needed a four-inning relief appearance on the final day of the regular season to convince Yankees manager Joe Torre that he belonged on the postseason roster.

After working 5 2/3 innings to get the victory in Game 4 of the first-round series against Oakland, Hernandez took the loss on Saturday with five shaky innings.

He allowed 10 baserunners -- on five hits and five walks -- and was charged with four earned runs.

Hernandez has been ineffective enough that his career with the Yankees may be over after the playoffs.

He was 4-7 with a 4.85 ERA during the regular season, starting just 16 games, and was sidelined almost half the season with injuries ranging from a toe problem to a tired arm.

He'll be eligible for salary arbitration after the season, and the Yankees may decide not to risk allowing a third party to set his salary in a process that traditionally has favored the players.

Hernandez is listed as being 32, but virtually no one in the game believes he's anything close to that. According to one report, Hernandez probably is 36.

Jackson, who serves as a special adviser for the Yankees, said: "I'm running the elevator, boss."

Stirring the pot

Mariners manager Lou Piniella spent 16 years with the Yankees as a player, coach, manager and in the front office.

So when he boldly pledged that his team would bring this series back to Seattle despite an 0-2 deficit, Piniella knew what kind of reaction that would get in New York -- even if he won't admit it.

Piniella and his comments have been back-page fodder for the city's tabloids the last two days.

"I didn't think I would create that much of a stir," Piniella said. "I mean that sincerely. I guess when you are a New Yorker, you can say those things. This city has got that feistiness about it, and it is good. But, boy, when somebody else says it, it creates a commotion."

Jay Buhner's ninth-inning home run landed in center field in the black "Batter's Eye" section of Yankee Stadium. It's the 22nd time a home run has landed there. Eighteen players have accomplished it; Reggie Jackson is the only other player to homer there in a postseason game. He did it in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. ... The Yankees' Bernie Williams has 14 career postseason homers, tied with teammate David Justice for fifth all-time. ...

Seattle's 14 runs broke the record for an ALCS game. The previous record had been 13 by Boston against New York in Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS. ... Bret Boone's five RBIs tied an ALCS record, accomplished four other times ... Ichiro Suzuki has gotten at least one hit in all eight of Seattle's postseason games. ...

Hall of Fame shortstop and former Yankees broadcaster Phil Rizzuto threw out the first pitch. He jogged off the field and, when he reached the first base line, again mimicked Derek Jeter's backhand flip to the plate in Game 3 of the AL Division Series. Rizzuto did the same thing before Game 5 against Oakland. ... After allowing one earned run in its last 17 postseason innings, the Yankees' bullpen allowed six earned runs in five innings on Saturday.